Wild

by Colet Abedi

  His other hand moves under my breast teasingly, and his mouth moves to my neck. He slips another finger inside, and my hand moves down to encourage the act. If he stops, I will murder him Michael Myers style.

  Thankfully, he doesn’t.

  One hand works my breasts as the other works my orgasm. His fingers move with expertise, knowing where to rub, what to press, putting enough friction into the movement that I’m on the precipice of coming…

  Holy. God.

  I see stars.

  It happens so fast. Thankfully Jamie covers my mouth right before I explode, in warning that we are not alone, and I come blissfully again and again.

  Goddammit.

  Chapter Nine

  “He braved LA traffic for you. Do you understand what that means?”

  Kerri and I stand in line at the studio café. We’re on a coffee run together, and it’s the first time we’ve been alone since Jamie spent the night last night. Yes, he did. No, there was no penetration—at least not the penal kind.

  He had forgotten condoms, which I found to be astonishing, considering he had clearly come over on a mission. I didn’t have any, and there was no way I’d ask either Kerri or Tony. I would never ever live it down.

  So we spent the night, after my earth-shattering orgasm during the best horror film of all time, Halloween, fooling around like kids in high school. And considering I had only fooled around with a few guys in high school, it was kind of awesome.

  He pleasured me again and again. He was so generous and giving.

  But unfortunately, he wouldn’t let me reciprocate.

  At one point last night, I was convinced he was into self-torture. I even asked him that question. He laughed in my face and proceeded to go down on me. After that, I didn’t really care anymore. If he wanted to deny himself, then by all means… Except I had really wanted to pleasure him.

  More than anything.

  I promised myself the next time I see him—

  If there is a next time…

  Who am I kidding?

  There is so going to be a next time.

  “Are you listening to me, Wyld?” Kerri asks sharply.

  “You’re screaming. Of course I’m listening,” I snap back.

  “So what do you have to say?”

  “Come. On.” I snicker. “He braved LA traffic because he wanted to get laid.”

  “I hate to break the news to you, but there are probably a million willing ladies waiting in line in Malibu, hoping he will take them home and fuck them silly.”

  Kerri sure has a way with words.

  “Him driving out to see you,” she says in excitement, “that is a big deal, Wyld! No one leaves their home for anyone. If people could Postmates a date, they would!”

  Our eyes light up at the same time.

  “That’s a great idea!” We both say and burst out laughing.

  “I’m serious,” Kerri says after a minute. “Think about it.”

  I look over at Kerri and shrug, suddenly unsure. “I’m scared, Kerri,” I admit. “He’s a big deal, not just in this business but around the world. Think about the kinds of women that throw themselves at him. You said yourself there was probably a line waiting in Malibu. I don’t want to start to think this is something it’s not. We barely even know each other.”

  “Well, you’re starting to get to know one another,” Kerri says with a smile. “So far he seems pretty great, you know. And from the look on your face last night, I’m guessing he knows how to work you.”

  “Oh my God.”

  “Don’t worry.” Kerri laughs. “Your secret is safe with me. God, do you turn bright red or what?”

  I bow my head in shame. “This is so embarrassing.”

  “Why?” Kerry waves it off. “I’m so jealous. I need to find a man. Does Jamie have a friend?”

  After a second, Kerri shakes her head and holds out her hand.

  “Scratch that. I’d rather eat glass than date anyone in the business,” she says with a hint of animosity.

  “And you’re encouraging me to?” I ask incredulously.

  “You didn’t grow up around them,” Kerri says. “Trust me. I had my fill, and you have the anomaly. Jamie’s not your typical director, and you know it.”

  No, he definitely isn’t—well, at least from the ones I’d ever come across, which was not many.

  “Well, I don’t have anything,” I say, lowering my voice. “I just have his… and I don’t even know how long that will last or even…”

  My voice trails off when it suddenly dawns on me. He could and is totally allowed to fool around with other women, and it can’t be an issue. This is supposed to be nothing but sex—at my own insistence—which basically means no questions.

  My gaze meets Kerri’s.

  “Thinking about who else he’s diddling with your new arrangement?” Kerri asks shrewdly. “Just dawned on you, huh?”

  I remain quiet while the reality of Kerri’s words settle in.

  “I can tell the thought bothers you.” Kerri’s knowing voice continues as she stares at me.

  “Of course it bothers me!” I snap back. Even though I have absolutely no right to get mad or be remotely jealous, I feel just that. And it sucks.

  What the hell am I thinking?

  But I haven’t been thinking… She is thinking, that lower extremity of mine that has only recently woken up from the dead, and boy is she here with a vengeance.

  She needs to calm down.

  “I must have been insane to agree to getting in a situation like this,” I whisper.

  “Why?” Kerri questions. “You’re obviously attracted to him. You’re into each other. Big deal?”

  “I can’t sleep with someone who’s sleeping with other people,” I argue back. “I will go crazy.” I look at Kerri as the realization dawns on me. “I’m turning into my mom!”

  Oh, shit.

  I can feel them.

  I hate my life. Crap. Here they come.

  Dammit. Tears.

  I never cry. Ever. Ever.

  Like ever.

  And I’m doing just that because of a man. I’m crying because I almost demeaned myself and became a plaything of a notorious man-whore.

  Who the hell am I?

  Did I not see enough heartache and trauma growing up?

  “Oh my God, you’re freaking crying!” Kerri exclaims in amazement.

  She seems pleased by this turn of events.

  “You’re happy?” I wail as I look for the napkins they give away with the coffee to wipe my face with.

  “You feel,” Kerri says, shaking her head in disbelief. “You like, really, really, really feel.”

  “If you say really one more time.” I start to cry harder.

  Kerri sighs before wrapping her arms around me and pulling me into her embrace.

  “Oh, Wyld, you are not your mom. She was weak and foolish. And telling a young child the things she did, that is just so wrong. It’s diabolical what she did to you. I can’t forgive her for it,” she whispers sympathetically to me. “Because when I look at you, I admire you. I look up to you. You are a strong, intelligent, beautiful, wild young woman who is just living her life and having fun with a gorgeous man. Because you know what, there are no guarantees.”

  Kerri’s sweet words turn me into a freaking waterfall.

  Good God, make it stop! Make it stop!

  “And because,” Kerri whispers emotionally. “Because you said he has the world’s most beautiful cock.”

  I hiccup, burp, and laugh at the same time.

  We hug each other for a second longer before I pull away and escape into the ladies’ room. I splash water on my face and think about what Kerri said. Without a doubt, she was right.

  But still, a nagging feeling of doom lingers. After all, Jamie is a dangerous proposition.

  I grimace when I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror.

  My eyes look exhausted and are red and puffy from crying. My nose even looks swollen. It
’s not my prettiest look.

  I promise myself I will never ever cry again.

  I try to at least smooth out my crazy hair before heading back into the café. I didn’t have time to wash it this morning after Jamie had kept me up all night, so I left it down, too lazy to do anything else with it. New Jersey comes to mind.

  I sigh. At least no one I want to impress is seeing me today.

  Famous. Freaking. Last. Words.

  If he had been looking anywhere else, I could have slipped out through the back. But no, that’s not my luck. My luck is Jamie Donovan standing with my best friend as she talks a mile a minute, staring right at the door to the ladies’ room.

  And God, does he look good.

  His hair is messy and perfect. He’s dressed in dark blue jeans with an emerald-green sweater and brown scruffy boots. The goddamn color of his sweater doesn’t even come close to how great the color of his eyes are.

  And then there’s poor old me.

  Wylder. The disaster.

  The walking, talking, crying… disaster.

  Kerri even looks horrified.

  But Jamie… he looks something else.

  Worried?

  He rushes over to me.

  “Jesus,” he says, pulling me into his arms. “What happened to you?”

  “I cried.” I sound as horrified as I feel.

  “I can see that.” Jamie’s eyes go round. “Do you want to talk about why you cried?”

  “Not particularly,” I say, staring into those beautiful eyes of his.

  “Why not?” he asks. “Maybe I can help you work through it. I know this business really well. You know, I started in the mailroom—”

  “This is not about the trials and tribulations of being an intern,” I tell him quickly as I shake my head.

  “Then what is it?” he asks earnestly. I can tell he’s worried about me, and I’m ashamed to admit, the thought thrills me.

  After a moment, I throw caution to the wind and think, What the hell?

  “It’s about you actually,” I say and watch as his face grows incredulous and unsure.

  He stares at me for an unnerving amount of time before answering. “Bullshit.” Jamie doesn’t believe me.

  “Trust me. I’m just as horrified as you are,” I assure him and try to move out of his yummy arms.

  He won’t let me budge. “I’m not horrified,” he says softly.

  “You should be.” I hate that my heart starts pounding uncontrollably.

  “What did I do to make you cry, Wyld?” Jamie asks me tenderly. His hand cups my cheek. “I never want to make you sad.”

  I can’t talk. Nor breathe.

  I just can’t.

  “You need to stop saying nice things.” I know my voice sounds grumpy.

  His smile turns into laughter. “Only if you stop saying things I like to hear.”

  My breath hitches, and his eyes darken in desire. His eyes flicker to my mouth. Oh my God, he’s going to kiss me.

  “Jamie.” I try to push away from him, but he won’t let me, and frankly, when he’s half an inch away, I don’t want him to be anywhere else.

  It’s a chaste kiss… but tender, and those soft lips linger for a minute before he pulls away. He rubs his hand along my cheek.

  “I’ll call you later,” he promises. “I want to talk about it, but I’m already late.”

  “We’ll talk later,” I say even though I have no intention of talking to him about it. Ever. In fact, I didn’t know what I should even do about him. Or with him.

  Lies. I know exactly what I want to do with him.

  He gives my shoulder a squeeze before turning and leaving the café. A wide-eyed Kerri comes over. She looks impressed.

  “I am in shock,” she murmurs when she reaches my side. “And in case you’re wondering, so is everyone else in here.”

  I look around.

  I’m dead.

  A few executives… one, maybe two interns even. Crap. Was that Tony’s crazy plastic surgery queen executive?

  It was. Awesome.

  “I’m so fired,” I say when the reality of my situation dawns on me.

  “No flippin’ way.” Kerri shakes her head in wonder.

  “What do you mean?” I ask in anguish. “He kissed me. And it wasn’t just a goodbye maybe European kind of kiss, it was more…” As I say the words out loud, I finally start to believe Jamie might like me more than just for sex.

  “Now, you are untouchable.” Kerri smiles in pleasure.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Jamie Donovan just said yes to the studio’s biggest movie in the past three years. The budget is over one hundred fifty million dollars. They want this to be a franchise, like Star Trek style,” Kerri explains in a rather worldly way. “He marked you. In front of enough people who will talk and spread the news. You, my friend, are untouchable. And you’ll probably get a promotion to assistant any day now.”

  My mouth drops open in horror. “That’s not what I want!”

  How dare Jamie kiss me like that here at the studio? This is my job. This is an internship I worked my butt off to get, and he just belittled everything I’ve done to get here. Maybe he thinks he did something nice, but to me, it’s dirty. And ugly. And the dark side of the business I want no part in.

  “Calm down,” Kerri says, reading my mood. “I think you’re seriously overreacting—”

  “You don’t understand what it’s like, how hard I’ve worked for just this internship.” My voice is harsh, but I can’t help it. “I don’t want people to think everything’s been handed to me. I’ve earned what I have up until now on my own. And I want to earn a promotion because I deserve it, not because they think I’m some director’s arm candy.”

  Kerri crosses her arms and looked annoyed. “I don’t understand?” She raises a brow, her voice becoming more passionate by the second. “How do you think I’ve felt my whole life? I might as well have a dollar sign on my back and a small banner that reads What Can I Do For You? People love my father’s money. They love it. And they’ll do anything to get near it. And because of that, everything I’ve earned is seen by everyone as just a favor to my father.”

  Shit.

  I never thought of it like that.

  She’s right. I’d seen it firsthand. People are super nice to Kerri or go out of their way to help her because they know who she is. It must have been hard for her to be able to tell what was real and what wasn’t.

  “So trust me when I say I understand,” Kerri says. “I think what he did was a stupid move on his part, especially from what little he’s seen of your temper.”

  I wipe my face of emotion and shake my head. “He’s not going to see any part of my temper.”

  “What do you mean?” Kerri asks suspiciously as she takes in my frosty countenance.

  “I’m so done with him,” I reply in anger.

  “Wylder.” She sighs. “Come on… don’t be dramatic.”

  “Dramatic?” I reply quickly. “What he just did was so uncool. And before you say anything else, think about how our order’s been sitting there on that countertop for over ten minutes now.”

  “Oh, crap!” Kerri exclaims when she looks over at it. “You’re right. We’re so dead!”

  We rush over and take the coffees back to the executives, the conversation thankfully over.

  But as Kerri predicted, word traveled fast.

  I am now Jamie Donovan’s something… since no one could be sure if I was his girlfriend or if I was just someone he was dating.

  But it was something.

  The interns even looked at me in a different way. Some in awe. Others envy. And of course there were the few opinionated, know-it-all teacher’s pets, who were so uptight they looked absolutely disgusted with me. I had to stop myself from walking up to one of them and asking if they had ever seen Jamie in person. If they had, they’d completely understand.

  “Wanna go for lunch?” Tony asks when we run into each other near the elev
ator, his look sympathetic.

  He knows me well, and he must realize what this kind of attention is doing to me. I know exactly what he wants to talk about.

  And I’d rather not.

  “Can’t,” I lie quickly. “Meeting up with an assistant from CAA.”

  I don’t think Tony believes me but too bad. I grab my purse and head out to take my lunch break. Once I’m driving along Sunset Boulevard, I pull over to type up a quick email that I send to my boss.

  Frank,

  Feeling really terrible. Just ran out of lunch

  meeting to throw up. It’s awful. I need to go home.

  I’ll check my emails intermittently.

  Best, Wylder

  Okay.

  Under normal circumstances, Frank would be a dick about something like this. He would call four hundred times to check in and make sure I was actually sick. All the interns dread dealing with Frank anyway. He’s the worst.

  So if what Kerri says is true, he’ll respond differently—meaning, he’ll be completely cool with my sick day.

  My phone pings less than two minutes later.

  I pull over again and check my email.

  Crap.

  Kerri is right.

  It looks like I’m now untouchable.

  Chapter Ten

  “I am a cliché,” I whisper in horror to my plant kids.

  As expected, Tom, Dick, and Harry don’t give me much of a response, but I know on the inside they must be crying for me.

  I cried my way home. They weren’t sad tears, they were mortified ones… In the course of one day, I had gone from being one of the top interns at the studio to the chick dating Jamie Donovan, famous movie director.

  A.k.a. typical Hollywood cliché.

  And the irony of it all? I wasn’t even really dating him.

  My phone rings and beeps nonstop when I get home, so I turn it on silent. I know it’s either Kerri, Tony, or maybe even Jamie, but I want nothing to do with anyone. Nothing from work could be that dire for an intern to have to take care of, so I’m not worried about missing anything on that end.

  I throw myself on my bed and turn on the TV. For some ungodly reason, I decide to watch Jamie’s directorial debut, Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon. I prepare myself to be bored and completely unimpressed. I’m surprised to find I’m the opposite. The movie is based on a true story and is really well done. He wrote and directed the film, so I can see why he became so sought after when it came out.